Kirsty Williams and Mike German say Nick Clegg must stay in post as party reels from election results

Lord Oakeshott claims the party is heading for "disaster" under the leadership of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

TWO of the most senior Welsh Liberal Democrat figures today warned it would be “madness” and “bonkers” for the party to ditch Nick Clegg

Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams and her predecessor Lord German insisted their party should not seek to remove the deputy prime minister.

Their warnings came on the same day that Lord Oakeshott announced he had resigned from the Lib Dems “with a heavy heart” after being told he faced disciplinary action for leaking a poll suggesting Mr Clegg is set to lose his Commons seat.

The party is reeling after losing all but one of its MEPs in last week’s European elections but Lord German described Lord Oakeshott – who warned the Lib Dems were heading for “disaster” under Mr Clegg – as a “lone ranger”.

Ms Williams said she had not detected demand among Welsh activists for Mr Clegg to quit, saying: “It would madness for the party to replace Nick... I’ve been ringing around a lot of our key councillors today and not one of the people I’ve spoken to today has expressed that opinion; they want to stay.”

Adamant the party could hold onto its three Welsh Westminster seats, she said: “We have had bad results and disappointing results before and we have come back from those and I and the party membership are absolutely determined to do that in this case. There is no getting away from it – they were a terrible set of results but we are determined to pick ourselves up and get out there and get our message across.”

Mr Oakeshott used his resignation letter to launch a scathing attack on Mr Glegg.

He wrote: “I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats. I am sure the party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

“I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes with Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen at Limehouse in 1981. We then, like most Liberal Democrats now, wanted a radical progressive party, not a ‘split the difference’ centre party, with, in Shirley’s memorable words, no roots, no principles and no values. But that is where Nick Clegg has led us.”

Lord Oakeshott was widely named as the source after ICM research predicting Mr Clegg would lose Sheffield Hallam to Labour appeared this week – although the polling company would only confirm it was commissioned by a Lib Dem supporter.

The report sparked speculation that Business Secretary Vince Cable, reportedly a close friend of the peer, was angling to oust Mr Clegg in the wake of disastrous local and European elections.

But Mr Cable released a statement on Tuesday night condemning Lord Oakeshott’s behaviour as “inexcusable and reprehensible”, and repeated his view that there was “no leadership issue”.

Lord German defended Mr Clegg’s leadership during the EU election campaign, saying: “It would be absolutely bonkers if we tried to remove a leader who has talked sense. Everybody in the party, I think, agrees that what we’ve said in the European elections was what we believe...

“You can’t shoot somebody who delivered a message we all believe in. It seems to me it would be just the wrong thing to do, just an entirely incorrect thing to do.”

The former deputy first minister added: “[My] experience of when you face crisis as a party leader is you look for how you redirect your activity and your message... On reflection, I think the party will need to take a quick intake of breath and get back on the road as quickly as it possibly can with its campaigning for the general election.”

He acknowledged people were “concerned and upset but warned against “dramatic action”. The peer anticipated a stronger performance in the Westminster elections because the campaign will be focused on the economy.

However, he suggested the euro-campaign could have done more to highlight the fact that while the party welcomed people into Britain who would “help us make a better fist of our economy” it would not “give support to people who come into the country who seek to soak up our taxes”.

Mr German was confident the party could hang onto its three Westminster seats and did not think Mr Clegg would need to resign if Scotland votes for independence in September.

Commenting on Mr Oakeshott, shortly before the peer’s resignation became public, he said: “Every party has got people who go [off] on their own tangent and their own direction and I think it was very unwise to do that... Vince has made it absolutely clear this is not something that he would support anyway.

“The lone ranger may have been going off on the wrong track and I think there will be plenty of people who will sharply remind him that this is not the right way to go about it.”

However, he acknowledged activists were “worried, scared, disheartened and have taken a huge hit” and described his own approach to dealing with crisis when he helmed the Welsh party: “I always took the view that your horizon is the next election and beyond and I think you need to focus and focus and focus upon that and to get people to rally around and demonstrate also, personally, you can make it work.”

The findings of a further ICM poll commissioned by Lord Oakeshott were revealed today which showed Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander may face losing his Highland seat to the SNP. He had the support of just 16% of constituents, compared with 32% for Alex Salmond’s party and 25% for Labour.

Business Secretary Mr Cable this afternoon said he had “absolutely no knowledge” of polling carried out in Nick Clegg’s constituency by Lord Oakeshott.

He said: “I very much regret it has finished up in this way and I regret he has decided to leave the party.

“I have given a very full and complete explanation of what I knew about these polls. I think the explanation is straightforward.

“We have been through some very bad elections, a lot of people have been very bruised by it. I want to work with my party colleagues to put it back on track.

“The information released to the press and commissioned about Sheffield Hallam and Inverness was damaging. I knew absolutely nothing about that, I was not involved with it in any way. I made that clear yesterday.”

Lib Dem Justice minister Simon Hughes said: “I’m clear Matthew Oakeshott has behaved disloyally and in a way that is completely without honour in this context.

“It is not the time or the job for people in the party to be seeking to undermine the party or the leadership.”

Montgomeryshire Conservative MP Glyn Davies expected the coalition to survive and Mr Clegg to stay in post, saying: “I think he’s a lot tougher than people imagine. I just think he’s a very, very tough politicians and that’s why I think he’ll survive.”

Labour Shadow Cabinet Office minister Michael Dugher said: “The Lib Dems broke their promises, have been propping up the Tories and have been punished for it in the polls. Now they are imploding and falling apart.”

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